The single-page agreement, dated 12 November 1893, contains seven short articles, including a commitment not to exercise interference beyond the Durand Line.[1] A joint British-Afghan demarcation survey took place starting from 1894, covering some 800 miles of the border.[2][3] Established towards the close of the "Great Game", the resulting line established Afghanistan as a buffer zone between British and Russian interests in the region.[4] The line, as slightly modified by the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, was inherited by Pakistan in 1947 following its independence.

Although the Durand Line is recognized as the western border of Pakistan, it remains largely unrecognized by Afghanistan.[9][10][11][12][13] In 2017, amid cross-border tensions, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan will "never recognise" the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries.[14]

Demarcation surveys on the Durand Line

Afghanistan before the 1893 Durand Line Agreement

The initial and primary demarcation, a joint Afghan-British survey and mapping effort, covered 800 miles and took place from 1894 to 1896. "The total length of the boundary which had been delimitated and demarcated between March 1894 and May 1896, amounted to 800 miles." Detailed topographic maps locating hundreds of boundary demarcation pillars were soon published and are available in the Survey of India collection at the British Library.[21]
The complete 20-page text of these detailed joint Afghan-British demarcation surveys is available in several sources, which point out that "J. Donald and Sardar Shireendil Khan settled the boundary from Sikaram Peak (34-03 north, 69-57 east) to Laram Peak (33-13 north, 70-05 east) in a document dated 21 November 1894. This section was marked by 76 pillars. The boundary from Laram Peak to ... Khwaja Khidr (32–34 north) ... was surveyed and marked by H. A. Anderson in concert with various Afghan chiefs ... marked by (39) pillars which are described in a report dated 15 April 1895. L. W. King (issued a report dated) 8 March 1895 (on) the demarcation of the section from Khwaja Khidr to Domandi (31–55 north) by 31 pillars. The line from Domandi to New Chaman (30–55 north, 66-22 east) was marked by 92 pillars by a joint demarcation commission led by Captain (later Lt. ColonelSir) Henry McMahon and Sardar Gul Muhammad Khan (who issued a) report dated 26 February 1895. McMahon also led the demarcation commission with Muhammad Umar Khan which marked the boundary from new Chaman to ... the tri-junction with Iran ... by 94 pillars which are described in a report dated 13 May 1896."[22][23]
In 1896, the long stretch from the Kabul River to China, including the Wakhan Corridor, was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the Khyber Pass, which was finally demarcated in the treaty of 22 November 1921 signed by Mahmud Tarzi, "Chief of the Afghan Government for the conclusion of the treaty" and "Henry R. C. Dobbs, Envoy Extraordinary and Chief of the British Mission to Kabul."[22]
A very short adjustment to the demarcation was made at Arundu (Arnawai) in 1933–34.[3][22]

Cultural impact of the Durand Line

Shortly after demarcation of the Durand Line, the British began connecting the region on its side of the Durand Line to the vast and expansive Indian railway network. Meanwhile, Abdur Rahman Khan conquered the Nuristanis and made them Muslims. Concurrently, Afridi tribesmen began rising up in arms against the British, creating a zone of instability between Peshawar and the Durand Line. Further, frequent skirmishes and wars between the Afghan state and the British Raj starting in the 1870s made travel between Peshawar and Jalalabad almost impossible. As a result, travel across the boundary was almost entirely halted. Further, the British recruited tens of thousands of local Pashtuns into the British Indian Army and stationed them throughout British India and southeast Asia. Exposure to India, combined with the ease of travel eastwards into Punjab and the difficulty of travel towards Afghanistan, led many Pashtuns to orient themselves towards the heartlands of British India and away from Kabul. By the time of Indian independence, political opinion was divided into those who supported a homeland for Muslim Indians in the shape of Pakistan, those who supported reunification with Afghanistan, and those who believed that a united India would be a better option.

Territorial dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Pakistan inherited the 1893 agreement and the subsequent 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi after the partition from the British India in 1947. There has never been a formal agreement or ratification between Islamabad and Kabul.[28] Pakistan believes, and international convention under uti possidetis juris supports, the position that it should not require an agreement to set the boundary;[26] courts in several countries around the world and the Vienna Convention have universally upheld via uti possidetis juris that binding bilateral agreements are "passed down" to successor states.[29] Thus, a unilateral declaration by one party has no effect; boundary changes must be made bilaterally.[30]

At the time of independence, the indigenous Pashtun people[15] living on the border with Afghanistan were given only the choice of becoming a part either of India or Pakistan.[5] Further, by the time of the Indian independence movement, prominent Pashtun nationalists such as Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his Khudai Khidmatgar movement advocated a united India, and not a united Afghanistan – highlighting the extent to which infrastructure and instability together began to erode Pashtun self-identification with Afghanistan.[31] By the time of independence, popular opinion amongst Pashtuns was split amongst the majority who wished to join the newly formed state of Pakistan, and the minority who wished to become a part of the Dominion of India. When the idea of a united India failed, Ghaffar Khan pledged allegiance to Pakistan and started campaigning for the autonomy of Pakistan's Pashtuns.[31]

Some scholars have suggested that memoranda from British officials in the 1890s suggest that the Durand Line was never intended to be a boundary demarcating sovereignty, but rather a line of control beyond which either side agreed not to interfere unless there were an expedient need to do so. These same scholars suggest that the frontier agreement was not of the form of an "executed clause", which usually caters for sovereign boundary demarcation and which cannot be unilaterally repudiated.[citation needed] And yet, within four years, joint Afghan-British demarcation teams had completed detailed demarcation surveys and demarcation text for most of the Durand Line (see above), contrary to the conjecture that the 1893 agreement was of the form of an "executory clause", similar to those pertaining to trade agreements, which are ongoing and can be repudiated by either party at any time. Other legal questions currently being considered are those of state practice, i.e. whether the relevant states de facto treat the frontier as an international boundary, and whether the de jure independence of the Tribal Territories at the moment of Indian Independence undermine the validity of Durand Agreement and subsequent treaties.[32][33]

His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom has seen with regret the disagreements between the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan about the status of the territories on the North West Frontier. It is His Majesty's Government's view that Pakistan is in international law the inheritor of the rights and duties of the old Government of India and of his Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in these territories and that the Durand Line is the international frontier.[35]

The members of the Council declared that their governments recognised that the sovereignty of Pakistan extends up to the Durand Line, the international boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it was consequently affirmed that the Treaty area referred to in Articles IV and VIII of the Treaty includes the area up to that Line.[36]

After the collapse of the pro-Soviet Afghan government in 1992, Pakistan, despite Article 2 of the Durand Line Agreement which states "The Government of India will at no time exercise interference in the territories lying beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan," attempted to create a puppet state in Afghanistan prior to Taliban control according to US Special Envoy on Afghanistan Peter Tomsen.[41] According to a summer 2001 report in The Friday Times, even the Taliban leaders challenged the very existence of the Durand Line when former Afghan Interior MinisterAbdur Razzaq and a delegation of about 95 Taliban visited Pakistan.[42] The Taliban refused to endorse the Durand Line despite pressure from Islamabad, arguing that there shall be no borders among Muslims. When the Taliban government was removed in late 2001, the Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai also began resisting the Durand Line,[43] and today the present Government of Afghanistan does not recognize Durand Line as its international border. No Afghan government has recognized the Durand Line as its border since 1947.[44][45]

A line of hatred that raised a wall between the two brothers.

— Hamid Karzai

The Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO) depicts the line on their maps as a de facto border, including naming the "Durand Line 2310 km (1893)" as an "International Boundary Line" on their home page.[46] However, a map in an article from the "General Secretary of The Government of Balochistan in Exile" extends the border of Afghanistan to the Indus River.[26] The Pashtun dominated Government of Afghanistan not only refuses to recognise the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries, it claims that the Pashtun territories of Pakistan rightly belong to Afghanistan.[10] Many in Afghanistan as well as some Pakistani politicians find the existence of the international boundary splitting ethnic Pashtun areas to be at least objectionable if not abhorrent.[47] Some argue that the 1893 treaty expired in 1993, after 100 years elapsed, and should be treated similarly to the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory.[26][48][49][42][50] However, neither the relatively short Durand Line Agreement itself nor the much longer joint boundary demarcation documents that followed in 1894-6 make any mention of a time limit suggesting the treaty should be treated similar to the Curzon Line and Mexican Cession or any other international boundary agreement (none of which have time limits.) In 2004, spokespersons of U.S. State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues and British Foreign and Commonwealth Office also pointed out that the Durand Line Agreement has no mention of an expiration date.

Recurrent claims that (the) Durand Treaty expired in 1993 are unfounded. Cartographic depictions of boundary conflict with each other, but Treaty depictions are clear.[28]

— A spokesperson for U.S. State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues

Because the Durand Line divides the Pashtun and Baloch people, it continues to be a source of tension between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.[51] In August 2007, Pakistani politician and the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Fazal-ur-Rehman, urged Afghanistan to recognise the Durand Line.[52] Press statements from 2005 to 2007 by former Pakistani PresidentMusharraf calling for the building of a fence on the Durand Line have been met with resistance from numerous Pashtun political parties within Afghanistan.[53][54][55] Pashtun politicians in Afghanistan strenuously object to even the existence of the Durand Line border.[47]

Aimal Faizi, spokesman for the Afghan President, stated in October 2012 that the Durand Line is "an issue of historical importance for Afghanistan. The Afghan people, not the government, can take a final decision on it."[9]

Recent border conflicts

An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle, one of a unit which is launched from Afghanistan to engage targets on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line.

In July 2003, Pakistani and Afghan forces clashed over border posts. The Afghan government claimed that Pakistani military established bases up to 600 meters inside Afghanistan in the Yaqubi area near bordering Mohmand Agency.[56] The Yaqubi and Yaqubi Kandao (Pass) area were later found to fall within Afghanistan.[57] In 2007, Pakistan erected fences and posts a few hundred meters inside Afghanistan, near the border-straddling bazaar of Angoor Ada in South Waziristan, but the Afghan National Army quickly removed them and began shelling Pakistani positions.[56] Leaders in Pakistan said the fencing was a way to prevent Taliban militants from crossing over between the two nations but Afghan President Hamid Karzai believed that it is Islamabad's plan to permanently separate the Pashtun tribes.[58]Special Forces from the United States Army have been based at Shkin, Afghanistan, seven kilometers west of Angoor Ada, since 2002.[59] In 2009, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and American CIA have begun using unmanned aerial vehicles from the Afghan side to hit terrorist targets on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line.[60]

The border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world, due largely to very little government control. It is legal and common in the region to carry guns, and assault rifles and explosives are common.[61] Many forms of illegal activities take place, such as smuggling of weapons, narcotics, lumber, copper, gemstones, marble, vehicles, and electronic products, as well as ordinary consumer goods.[51][62][63][64][65] Kidnappings and murders are frequent.[7] Numerous outsiders with extremist views came from around the Muslim world to settle in the Durand Line region over the past 30 years. While most of the time the Taliban cross the Durand Line from Pakistan into Afghanistan and carry out attacks inside Afghan cities, sometimes they cross from the Afghanistan side of the border and attack Pakistani security forces and cities. Recently, 300 Taliban militants from Afghanistan's territory launched attacks on Pakistani border posts in which 34 Pakistani security forces were believed to be killed. It is also believed Swat District Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah is hiding somewhere inside Afghanistan.[66] In June 2011 more than 500 Taliban militants entered Upper Dir area from Afghanistan and killed more than 30 Pakistani security forces. Police said the attackers targeted a checkpost, destroyed two schools and several houses, while killing a number of civilians.[67]

The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both trying to extend the rule of law into the border areas. At the same time, the United States is reviewing the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ) Act in Washington, D.C., which is supposed to help the economic status of the Pashtun and Baloch tribes by providing jobs to a large number of the population on both sides of the Durand Line border.[68]

Much of the northern and central Durand line is quite mountainous, where crossing the border is often only practical in the numerous passes through the mountains. Border crossings are very common, especially among Pashtuns who cross the border to meet relatives or to work. The movement of people crossing the border has largely been unchecked or uncontrolled,[51] although passports and visas are at times checked at official crossings. In June 2011 the United States installed a biometric system at the border crossing near Spin Boldak aimed at improving the security situation and blocking the infiltration of insurgents into southern Afghanistan.[69]

Between June and July 2011, Pakistan Chitral Scouts and local defence militias suffered deadly cross border raids. In response the Pakistani military reportedly shelled some Afghan villages in Afghanistan's Nuristan, Kunar, Nangarhar, and Khost provinces resulting in a number of Afghan civilians being killed.[70] Afghan sources claimed that nearly 800 rounds of missiles were fired from Pakistan, hitting civilian targets inside Afghanistan.[71] The reports claimed that attacks by Pakistan resulted in the deaths of 42 Afghan civilians, including children, wounded many others and destroyed 120 homes. Although Pakistan claims it was an accident and just routine anti Taliban operations, some analysts believe that it could have been a show of strength by Islamabad. For example, a senior official at the Council on Foreign Relations explained that because the shelling was of large scale it is more likely to be a warning from Pakistan than an accident.[72]

I'm speculating, but natural possibilities include a signal to Karzai and to (the United States) that we can't push Pakistan too hard.[72]

The United States and other NATO states often ignore this sensitive issue, likely because of potential effects on their war strategy in Afghanistan. Their involvement could strain relations and jeopardise their own national interests in the area.[10] This came after the November 2011 NATO bombing in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.[73] In response to that incident, Pakistan decided to cut off all NATO supply lines as well as boost border security by installing anti-aircraft guns and radars to monitor air activity.[74] Regarding the Durand Line, some rival maps are said to display discrepancies of as much as five kilometers.[75]

Trench being built alongside the border

In June 2016, Pakistan announced that it had completed 1,100 km of trenches along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Durand Line) in Balochistan to check movement of terrorists and smugglers across border into Pakistan from Afghanistan.[76] Plans to expand this trench/ berm/ fence work were announced in March 2017.[77] Plans are to build 338 check posts and forts along the border by 2019.[78]

2017 border closures

On 16 February, Pakistan closed the border crossings at Torkham and Chaman due to security reasons following the Sehwan blast.[79][80] On 7 March, the border was reopened for two days to facilitate the return of people to their respective countries who had earlier crossed the border on valid visas. The decision was taken after repeated requests by Afghanistan’s government to avert ‘a humanitarian crisis’.[81][82] According to a Pakistani official, 24,000 Afghans returned to Afghanistan, while 700 Pakistanis returned to Pakistan, before the border was indefinitely closed again.[83] On 20 March, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the reopening of Afghanistan–Pakistan border as a "goodwill gesture", 32 days after it was closed.[84][85]

On 5 May, following an attack on Pakistani census team by Afghan forces and the resulting exchange of fire between the two sides, the border was closed again.[86] On 27 May, Pakistan reopened the border after a request from Afghan authorities, marking the end of the border closure that lasted 22 days.[87]

References

^"The total length of the boundary which had been delimited and demarcated between March 1894 and May 1896, amounted to 800 miles." The long stretch from the Kabul River to China, including the Wakhan Corridor, was declared demarcated by virtue of its continuous, distinct watershed ridgeline, leaving only the section near the Khyber Pass, which was finally demarcated in 1921: Brig.-Gen. Sir Percy Sykes, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society (1940). "A History of Afghanistan Vol. II". London: MacMillan & Co. pp. 182–188; 200–208. Retrieved 2009-12-05.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

^ abAn adjustment to the demarcation was made at Arundu in the early 1930s: Hay, Maj. W. R. (October 1933). "Demarcation of the Indo-Afghan Boundary in the Vicinity of Arandu". Geographical Journal. LXXXII (4).

^ ab"No Man's Land". Newsweek. United States. February 1, 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2011-02-11. Where the imperialists' Great Game once unfolded, tribal allegiances have made for a "soft border" between Afghanistan and Pakistan—and a safe haven for smugglers, militants and terrorists

^Government & Politics: Overview Of Current Political Situation In Afghanistan"(3) The Durand Line is an unofficial porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 1893, the British and the Afghan Amir (Abdur Rahman Khan) agreed to set up the Durand line (named after the foreign Secretary of the Indian government, Sir Mortimer Durand) to divide Afghanistan and what was then British India.

1.
Pakistan
–
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a federal parliamentary republic in South Asia on the crossroads of Central Asia and Western Asia. It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 200 million people, in terms of area, it is the 33rd-largest country in the world with an area covering 881,913 square kilometres. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistans narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic, an ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. The new constitution stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran. Pakistan has an economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector. The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and it is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing middle classes. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, the country continues to face challenging problems such as illiteracy, healthcare, and corruption, but has substantially reduced poverty and terrorism and expanded per capita income. It is also a member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the name Pakistan literally means land of the pure in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto, the letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct and meaningful name. Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan, the earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Vedic Civilization, characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, the Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander, prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of education in the world. At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty of Sindh ruled this region, the Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharampala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan. The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD, the Pakistan governments official chronology identifies this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid

2.
Afghanistan
–
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana

3.
British Raj
–
The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small

4.
Abdur Rahman Khan
–
Abdur Rahman Khan was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901. He was the son of Mohammad Afzal Khan, and grandson of Dost Mohammad Khan. Abdur Rahman Khan re-established the writ of the Afghan government after the disarray that followed the second Anglo-Afghan war and he became known as The Iron Amir after defeating a number of rebellions by various tribes who were led by his relatives. At first, the new Amir was quietly recognized, but after a few months, Afzal Khan raised an insurrection in the north of the country, where he had been governing when his father died. This began a fierce internecine conflict for power between Dost Mohammads sons, which lasted for five years. The Musahiban are descendants of Dost Mohammad Khans older brother, Sultan Mohammad Khan Telai, Abdur Rahman distinguished himself for his ability and energetic daring. Sher Ali threw Afzal Khan into prison, and a serious revolt followed in southern Afghanistan, after some delay and desultory fighting, he and his uncle, Azam Khan, occupied Kabul in March 1866. Notwithstanding the new Amirs incapacity, and some jealousy between the leaders, Abdur Rahman and his uncle, they again routed Sher Alis forces. When Afzal Khan died at the end of the year, Azam Khan became the new ruler, with Abdur Rahman installed as Governor in the northern province. But towards the end of 1868 Sher Alis return, and a rising in his favour, resulted in Abdur Rahman. Both sought refuge to the east in Central Asia, whence Abdur Rahman placed himself under Russian protection at Samarkand, Azam died eventually in Kabul in October 1869. Abdur Rahman lived in exile in Tashkent, the governor-general of Tashkent sent for Abdur Rahman and motivated him by bringing up the blessing of Jacob, Abdurs patriarch. He was being told to cross the Oxus and claim throne for Amir, after some negotiations, and an interview with Lepel Griffin, the diplomatic representative at Kabul of the Indian government. Griffin described Abdur Rahman as a man of middle height, with an exceedingly intelligent face and frank and courteous manners, shrewd, the British evacuation of Afghanistan was settled on the terms proposed, and in 1881, the British troops also handed over Kandahar to the new Amir. However, Ayub Khan, one of Sher Ali Khans sons, marched upon that city from Herat, defeated Abdur Rahmans troops and this serious reverse roused the Amir, who had not at first displayed much activity. He led a force from Kabul, met Ayubs army close to Kandahar, the powerful Ghilzai tribe revolted against the severity of his measures several times. In that same year, Ayub Khan made a fruitless inroad from Persia, Abdur Rahmans attitude at this critical juncture is a good example of his political sagacity. He also published his autobiography in 1885, which served more as a guide for princes than anything else

5.
Foreign relations of Afghanistan
–
Foreign relations of Afghanistan are handled by the nations Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is headed by Salahuddin Rabbani. He answers to, and receives guidance from, the President of Afghanistan, 1980s Soviet war, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality and nonalignment rein its foreign relations, being one of a few independent nations to stay neutral in both World War I and World War II. In international forums, Afghanistan generally followed the patterns of Asian and African non-aligned countries. During the 1950s and 60s, Afghanistan was able to use the Russian and American need for allies during the Cold War as a way to economic assistance from both countries. Following the coup of April 1978, the government under Nur Muhammad Taraki developed significantly closer ties with the Soviet Union, after the December 1979 Soviet invasion, Afghanistans foreign policy mirrored that of the Soviet Union. Afghan foreign policymakers attempted, with success, to increase their regimes low standing in the noncommunist world. With the signing of the Geneva Accords, President Najibullah unsuccessfully sought to end the Democratic Republic of Afghanistans isolation within the Islamic world, most Western countries, including the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in the capital city of Kabul during the Soviet occupation. Many countries subsequently closed their missions due to instability and heavy fighting in Kabul after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the Taliban soon became alienated of those countries positive feelings with knowledge of the harsh Sharia law being enforced in Taliban-controlled territories spreading around the world. The brutality towards women who attempted to work, learn, or leave the house without a male escort caused outside aid to the country to be limited. The Afghan government is focused on securing continued assistance for rebuilding the economy, infrastructure and it has continued to maintain close ties with North America, the European Union, Japan, Australia, India, China, Russia and the Greater Middle East as well as African nations. It also seeks to establish relations with more South American or Latin nations, in late 2011, relations between Afghanistan and Dominican Republic were established. The September 11,2001 attacks in the U. S. prompted Canada to re-evaluate its policies toward Afghanistan. S, general Ray Henault, the Chief of the Defence Staff, issued preliminary orders to several CF units, as Operation Apollo was established. The Canadian commitment was originally planned to last to October 2003, Afghanistan is represented in Denmark, through its embassy in Oslo, Norway. Denmark has an embassy in Kabul, Denmark has 760 soldiers in Afghanistan, operating without caveat and concentrated in Helmand province. Relations between the two countries are friendly, about 9578 Afghans live in Denmark. Diplomatic relations were established in 1947, on 24 May 1967, an air service agreement was signed in Kabul. On 2 March 1979, an agreement on a Danish loan to Afghanistan was signed, since 2001, the Royal Danish Army has been involved in the War in Afghanistan as part of the ISAF. The Royal Danish Army with the British Army have been involved in clashes with the Taliban in the Helmand Province, Denmark had two of their F 16s in the Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan to support their forces in Afghanistan

6.
Pashtunistan
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Pashtunistan is the geographic region inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Alternative names historically used for the region included Afghānistān and Pashtūnkhwā, Pashtunistan borders Punjab to the east, Persian and Turkic speaking regions to the west and north, Kashmir to the northeast, and Balochistan to the south. For administrative division in 1893, Mortimer Durand drew the Durand Line and this porous line that runs through the center of the Pashtun region forms the modern border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the call their home in their own language Afghánistán. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmáns first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the very concept of Pakhtunistan was taken from the old word Pakhtunkhwa. The British were using Pathanistan for Pakhtunistan in the beginning, depending on the source, the ethnic Pashtuns constitute 42-60% of the population of Afghanistan. In neighboring Pakistan they constitute 15.42 percent of the 190 million population, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, Pashto speakers constitute above 73 percent of the population as of 1998. In recent age, people of the Western world have explored the area. Arab Muslims arrived in the 7th century and began introducing Islam to the native Pashtun people, some of the Arabs settled in the Sulaiman Mountains, the Pashtunistan area later fell to the Turkish Ghaznavids whose main capital was at Ghazni, with Lahore serving as the second power house. The Ghaznavid Empire was then taken over by the Ghorids from todays Ghor, the army of Genghis Khan arrived in the 13th century and began destroying Persian-speaking cities in the north while the Pashtun territory was defended by the Khilji dynasty of Delhi. In the 14th and 15th century, the Timurid dynasty was in control of the cities and towns. During the Delhi Sultanate era, the region was ruled by Turkic dynasties from Delhi, an early Pashtun nationalist was the warrior-poet Khushal Khan Khattak, who was imprisoned by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for trying to incite the Pashtuns to rebel against the rule of the Mughals. However, despite sharing a language and believing in a common ancestry. The eastern parts of Pashtunistan was ruled by the Mughal Empire, during the early 18th century, Pashtun tribes led by Mirwais Hotak successfully revolted against the Safavids in the city of Kandahar. In a chain of events, he declared Kandahar and other parts of what is now southern Afghanistan independent, by 1738 the Mughal Empire had been crushingly defeated and their capital sacked and looted by forces of a new Iranian ruler, the military genius and commander Nader Shah. Besides Persian, Turkmen, and Caucasian forces, Nader was also accompanied by the young Ahmad Shah Durrani, and 4,000 well trained Pashtun troops from what is now Afghanistan and North-west Pakistan. The famous couplet by Ahmad Shah Durrani describes the association the people have with the city of Kandahar. Translation, I forget the throne of Delhi when I recall the mountain peaks of my beautiful Pukhtunkhwa, the last Afghan Empire was established in 1747 and united all the different Pashtun tribes as well as many other ethnic groups

7.
Balochistan, Pakistan
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Balochistan, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the southwestern region of the country. Its provincial capital and largest city is Quetta and it shares borders with Punjab and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the northeast, Sindh to the southeast, the Arabian Sea to the south, Iran to the west, and Afghanistan to the north. The name Balochistan means the land of the Baloch in many regional languages, although largely underdeveloped, the provincial economy is dominated by natural resources, especially its natural gas fields, which supply the entire country. Gwadar Port also plays a significant role in the development of the province. Balochistan is noted for its culture and extremely dry desert climate. Baloch people practice Islam and are predominantly Sunni, similar to the rest of Pakistan, Balochistan marked the westernmost extent of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Centuries before the arrival of Islam in the 7th Century, parts of Balochistan was ruled by the Paratarajas, at certain times, the Kushans also held political sway in parts of Balochistan. With time, Baloch tribes linguistically absorbed all the people in Makran, southern Sistan. By 654, the whole of what is now Balochistan was controlled by the Rashidun Caliphate, however, this town was later conquered during the reign of Caliph Ali. Abdulrehman ibn Samrah made Zaranj his provincial capital and remained governor of these areas from 654 to 656. During the Caliphate of Ali, revolt broke out in southern Balochistans Makran region. Due to civil war in the Rashidun Caliphate, Ali was unable to deal with these areas until 660, Haris ibn Marah Abdi arrived in Makran and conquered it by force, and then moved northward to north-eastern Balochistan and reconquered Qandabil. Finally, he moved south and conquered Kalat after a fierce battle, Muslim forces later regained control of the area during the Umayyad reign. It also remained a part of the Abbasid Caliphate, ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Afghan Empire, also won the allegiance of that areas rulers. Most of the area would revert to local Baloch control, after Afghan rule. During the period of the British Raj, there were four Princely States in Balochistan, Makran, Kharan, Las Bela and Kalat. After the Second Afghan War was ended by the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879, on 1 April 1883, the British took control of the Bolan Pass, south-east of Quetta, from the Khan of Kalat. In 1887, small areas of Balochistan were declared British territory

8.
Gilgit-Baltistan
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Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas, is the northernmost administrative territory in Pakistan. Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the Kashmir region that is disputed by India and Pakistan, along with Azad Kashmir, Aksai Chin, the Shaksgam Valley, and Jammu, Ladakh, the territory of present-day Gilgit-Baltistan became a separate administrative unit in 1970 under the name Northern Areas. It was formed by the amalgamation of the former Gilgit Agency, the Baltistan district and several small former princely states, however, scholars state that the real power rests with the governor and not with chief minister or elected assembly. The population of Gilgit-Baltistan wants to be merged into Pakistan as a fifth province. Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of over 72,971 km² and is highly mountainous and it had an estimated population of 1,800,000 in 2015. Gilgit-Baltistan is home to five of the eight-thousanders and to more than fifty peaks above 7,000 metres, three of the worlds longest glaciers outside the polar regions are found in Gilgit-Baltistan. Tourism is mostly in trekking and mountaineering, and this industry is growing in importance, the rock carvings found in various places in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially those found in the Passu village of Hunza, suggest a human presence since 2000 BC. Within the next few centuries after human settlement in the Tibetan plateau, this region became inhabited by Tibetans, today Baltistan bears similarity to Ladakh physically and culturally. Dards are found mainly in the western areas and these people are the Shina-speaking peoples of Gilgit, Chilas, Astore and Diamir while in Hunza and in the upper regions Burushaski and Khowar speakers dominate. The Dards find mention in the works of Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny, Ptolemy, in the 1st century the people of these regions were followers of the Bon religion while in the 2nd century they followed Buddhism. Between 399 and 414, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Faxian visited Gilgit-Baltistan, between 627 and 645, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang travelled through this region. From 644 to 655, Navasurendrādityanandi was King of Palola, in 706/707, Jayamaṅgalavikramādityanandi became king of Palola. It is said that in the year 717, a delegation of a ruler of great Palola, named Su-fu-she-li-ji-li-ni according to the transcription of Chinese characters, in 719, Su-fu-she-li-ji-li-ni, King of Palola, sent a second delegation to the Chinese Imperial court. By at least 719/720, Ladakh was part of the Tibetan Empire, by that time uddhism iwa practiced in Baltistan and Sanskrit was the written language. It is unknown if Baltistan temporarily w sPruled under alolo. at that time 7In 20, thl deegation of Sou-lin-to i che, King of Palola, the Emperor gives the ruler of Cashmere, Tchen-fo-lo-pi-li, the title of King of Cashmere. By 721/722 Baltistan had become part of the Tibetan Empire, during 721-722 the conquest of Little Palola or Bru-zha by the Tibetan army failed. Mo-ching-mang had become the King of Palola by this time which was visited by the Korean Buddhist pilgrim Hyecho between 723-728, in 737/738, Tibetan troops under the leadership of Minister sKyes-bzang ldong-tsab conquered Little Palola. By 747 the Chinese army under the leadership of the ethnic-Korean commander Gao Xianzhi reconquered Palola, Turkic tribes practicing Zoroastrianism arrived in Gilgit during the 7th century, and founded the Trakhan dynasty in Gilgit

9.
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy, a subfield of geopolitics, is a type of foreign policy guided principally by geographical factors as they inform, constrain, or affect political and military planning. As with all strategies, geostrategy is concerned with matching means to ends—in this case, Strategy is as intertwined with geography as geography is with nationhood, or as Gray and Sloan state it, the mother of strategy. Geostrategists, as distinct from geopoliticians, advocate aggressive strategies, Geostrategy is most closely related to strategic geography. Especially following World War II, some scholars divide geostrategy into two schools, the uniquely German organic state theory, and, the broader Anglo-American geostrategies, academics, theorists, and practitioners of geopolitics have agreed upon no standard definition for geostrategy. Most all definitions, however, emphasize the merger of strategic considerations with geopolitical factors, the term geo-strategy was first used by Frederick L. Schuman in his 1942 article Let Us Learn Our Geopolitics. It was a translation of the German term Wehrgeopolitik as used by German geostrategist Karl Haushofer, previous translations had been attempted, such as defense-geopolitics. Robert Strausz-Hupé had coined and popularized war geopolitics as another alternate translation, eostrategy is about the exercise of power over particularly critical spaces on the Earths surface, about crafting a political presence over the international system. It is aimed at enhancing security and prosperity, about making the international system more prosperous. A geostrategy is about securing access to trade routes, strategic bottlenecks, rivers, islands. It requires an extensive presence, normally coterminous with the opening of overseas military stations. It also requires a network of alliances with other powers who share ones aims or with smaller lynchpin states that are located in the regions one deems important. —Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard Geostrategy is the direction of a states foreign policy. More precisely, geostrategy describes where a state concentrates its efforts by projecting military power, the underlying assumption is that states have limited resources and are unable, even if they are willing, to conduct a tous asimuths foreign policy. Instead they must focus politically and militarily on specific areas of the world, Geostrategy describes this foreign-policy thrust of a state and does not deal with motivation or decision-making processes. The geostrategy of a state, therefore, is not necessarily motivated by geographic or geopolitical factors, a state may project power to a location because of ideological reasons, interest groups, or simply the whim of its leader. —Jakub J. —Lim Joo-Jock, Geo-Strategy and the South China Sea Basin, a science named geo-strategy would be unimaginable in any other period of history but ours. It is the product of turbulent twentieth-century world politics. -Andrew Gyorgi, The Geopolitics of War, Total War and Geostrategy, jones, The Power Inventory and National Strategy Geostrategy is the geographic direction of a state’s foreign policy

10.
Hamid Karzai
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Hamid Karzai /ˈhæmᵻd ˈkɑːrˌzaɪ/ served as President of Afghanistan for almost ten years, from 7 December 2004 to 29 September 2014. He comes from an active family, Karzais father, uncle and grandfather were all active in Afghan politics. Karzai and his father before him, Abdul Ahad Karzai, were each head of the Popalzai tribe of the Durrani tribal confederation, in the 1980s Karzai was active as a fundraiser for the mujahideen who were fighting to expel Soviet Army troops during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. After the Soviet withdrawal, the Islamic State of Afghanistan was established and then it was replaced in 1996 when the Taliban came to power, in July 1999 Karzais father was assassinated and Karzai succeeded him as head of the Popalzai tribe. In October 2001 the US invasion of Afghanistan began and Karzai became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 and he was then chosen for a two-year term as Interim President during the 2002 loya jirga that was held in Kabul, Afghanistan. After the 2004 presidential election, Karzai was declared winner and became President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and he won a second five-year term in the 2009 presidential election, this term ended in September 2014. Karzai was born on 24 December 1957 in the Karz area of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan and he is an ethnic Pashtun of the Popalzai tribe. His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament during the 1960s and his grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had fought in the 1919 Third Anglo-Afghan War and was the Deputy Speaker of the Senate. Karzais family were supporters of Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai attended Mahmood Hotaki Primary School in Kandahar and Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani School in Kabul and he graduated from Habibia High School in 1976. He obtained his masters degree in 1983, after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Karzai moved to neighboring Pakistan to work as a fundraiser for the anti-communist mujahideen during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan. The mujahideen were backed by the United States, Pakistan, following the withdrawal of Soviet forces, Hamid Karzai returned to Afghanistan in early October 1988 to assist in the mujahideen victory in Tarinkot. He assisted in rallying Popalzai and other Durrani tribes to oust the regime from the city as well as helped negotiate the defection of five hundred of Mohammad Najibullahs forces, Karzai accompanied the first mujahideen leaders into Kabul after President Najibullah stepped down in 1992. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister in the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Karzai was, however, arrested by Mohammad Fahim on charges of spying for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in what Karzai claimed was an effort to mediate between Hekmatyars forces and Rabbanis government. Karzai fled from Kabul in a provided by Hekmatyar and driven by Gul Rahman. When the Taliban emerged in the mid-1990s, Karzai initially recognized them as a government because he thought that they would stop the violence. He was requested by the Taliban to serve as their ambassador but he refused and he lived in the Pakistani city of Quetta among the Afghan refugees, where he worked to reinstate former Afghan King Zahir Shah. In July 1999, Karzais father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, was gunned down early in the morning while coming home from a mosque in the city of Quetta, reports suggest that the Taliban carried out the assassination

Bismullah Mohammadi, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and Stanley A. McChrystal, gather for a group photo with senior military and diplomatic representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States prior to the 29th Tripartite Commission held at NATO International Security Assistance Forces Headquarters, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Map showing the sites and extent of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Mohenjo-Daro and Mehrgarh were among centers of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the modern-day province. Balochistan marked the westernmost territory of the civilisation, which was one of the most developed in the old Bronze Age in the world.

Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ gê "earth, land" and πολιτική politikḗ "politics") is the study of the effects of geography …

Sir Halford Mackinder's Heartland concept showing the situation of the "pivot area" established in the Theory of the Heartland. He later revised it to mark Northern Eurasia as a pivot while keeping area marked above as Heartland.